Late
by mintjulep
Summary: Spock and Nyota have a misunderstanding. -- Reviews always appreciated. Please check out my other fic, Science and Stories, if you enjoy this one.


He was late. It was a situation he had not found himself in since childhood, and he was unsure as to the procedure for apologizing for such instances. He walked tall with his chin held high and hands clasped behind his back, his stoic face revealing none of the thoughts currently residing in his mind.

_Would it suffice to simply verbalize an apology or would an explanation be expected of me? If so, I have allowed for a difficult predicament to befall me as I find myself quite unable to lie, yet I most certainly cannot explain why I am late._

Memories of the morning's events began to resurface on the forefront of his mind, distracting him from any chance of deducting a suitable explanation that neither lied nor told the exact truth.

_Small, soft arms encircled him from behind as he pulled his uniform shirt off its hanger. _

"_Come back to bed," Nyota whispered in his ear, gently tugging him towards their bed. She had been on duty late the previous night and had proceeded to promptly pass out upon her return to their quarters a few hours before. Spock turned to face her and was caught off guard when she proceeded to kiss him before he could protest. He allowed himself to fall into the kiss and rested his hands upon Nyota's hips as she deepened it. After a momentary internal struggle, he pulled away._

"_I cannot, Nyota," he told her as he dropped his hands. "I must be on the bridge in precisely one hour. I have no intentions of commencing an activity that I cannot complete at this time."_

_Nyota brushed her fingers across the tip of his ears. "One hour is more than enough time," she said, leaning in to kiss him again. He was prepared for her actions this time and turned his lips away from hers before they met. Nyota let go of him and groaned in frustration._

"_Spock, has it ever occurred to you that I could probably go a lot longer without sex than you could, so it might not be a good idea to irritate me?" _

_Spock's left eyebrow rose on it's own accord, and while he sensed the danger in disagreeing with her at the present moment, he could not help himself from claiming, "Considering our current situation, Nyota, I must disagree." He knew immediately that he should have refrained from speaking. Nyota's eyes smoldered as she turned on her heel and walked out of their bedroom. Spock sighed and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. 6:07. He now had precisely 53 minutes to apologize to his wife and return her to her usual amiable self. He followed her into the den and was entirely unprepared for what he saw. Instead of the irate woman who had all but stormed out of their room, he found Nyota curled up on their couch and crying into her hands. He sat himself beside her and placed one hand on her shoulder while attempting to remove the hands from her eyes with the other. She slapped him away and rolled away from him, sobbing, "Don't touch me." He acquiesced to her request and returned his hands to his lap. He was unsure of what words would calm her in this state as he had very rarely encountered her in it. Anger was commonplace; Nyota was often too passionate to keep her temper in check. Sadness, however, was not something by which Nyota was often overcome. _

"_Nyota, I am sorry for upsetting you. It was not my intention. I merely…" He was cut of as she rolled back toward him and grabbed his hand._

"_Don't apologize Spock. You didn't upset me; I was already upset. I should be apologizing to you," she said as she raised her eyes to his face. Spock's eyes narrowed ever so slightly in confusion. _

"_I do not understand. If it was not I then what has upset you?"_

_Nyota bit her bottom lip before taking a deep breath to collect herself. She sat up next to him and let go of his hand. _

"_It's just so frustrating that now, when we're actually allowed to be together, it seems like we spend even less time together than we did back at the academy. There's only so much that a girl can be expected to willingly sacrifice, Spock, and I feel so empty right now. It's not just about the sex; it's about everything. I try so hard not to let it get to me and to keep it to myself because I know you don't like my overly emotional displays and…" _

"_Nyota," Spock cut her off indignantly and looked directly into her eyes. "I have never once requested that you 'keep it to yourself', nor have I so much as suggested that I am adverse to your 'overly emotional displays'." Nyota stared back for a moment before dropping her gaze to her hands. "What could have possibly given you that impression?" he continued as he lifted her chin, forcing her to return her gaze to his. _

"_I didn't mean all of them. Just the ones like now. I can feel it, Spock. Whenever I get upset or cry, I can feel your discomfort. I can feel that you wished I would stop." Spock sat perfectly still, not even breathing as he processed what she had just told him. His throat felt tight, and his breathing hitched fractionally as he opened his mouth to respond._

"_Nyota, I admit that I am uncomfortable when you are upset, and I do wish you would stop when you cry. But I think you misunderstand the reason why. I am uncomfortable because you are unhappy, and I do not know how to remedy your sadness. I wish you would stop crying because when you are unhappy, I am unhappy, and I cannot be content again until you are also. I am truly sorry that you have misunderstood this." He paused, awaiting her reaction to his words. Nyota did not move for precisely 7 seconds, though it felt as if days had passed, and he was afraid that she was unconvinced of his words. When she did move, Spock was startled and confused at her response. She began crying again. Frantically, he searched his mind for an answer to why she had started crying again while simultaneously trying to determine how to fix the situation. Before he arrived at a conclusion, Nyota uncovered her face and laughed while tears continued to pour down her cheeks. Spock, needless to say, was absolutely flabbergasted. Nyota noticed his confusion and laughed again saying, "Spock, I'm not still upset. I'm happy. I promise. These are happy tears. I'm sorry. I feel like such an idiot for just assuming so much." Spock was still slightly unnerved considering that he had never before seen his wife display 'happy tears' but allowed himself to relax as his wife leaned over to kiss him. "I believe," he said as she pulled away, " that my mother often indulged in 'happy tears' when I was a child. I did not understand them then, and I still do not understand them now." She smiled again, and he noticed how beautiful she looked with the tears on her face glistening in the light, her smile as radiant as ever. "However, I do believe that you are not upset and therefore see no reason for you to stop." She laughed again and wrapped her arms around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the nearest clock said 6:45. If he finished dressing and left immediately, he would still be on time for his shift. He carefully brushed the tears from Nyota's face with the back of his fingers and leaned in to kiss each eyelid before lowering his lips to hers. For some strange, inexplicable reason, Spock seemed unable to quell irrational thoughts from his mind when Nyota was near, and this was no exception. "The bridge can wait," he whispered as he lifted her laughing form from the couch and awarded her with a small smile._

"Spock." He blinked turned his head toward the direction of the voice and realized that he had continued his on his route to work without consciously thinking about it. He found himself standing in the elevator on the bridge, face to face with a somewhat annoyed looking captain.

"Spock. You're late. A lot late. You know if anyone else showed up this late, I'd demand an explanation, and I'd expect it to be a damn good one."

Jim paused, considering whether or not to extend the demand to Spock. After all, he was nearly an hour late to his post and, regardless of whether Vulcan or Human, that was unacceptable.

A part of him really wanted to know what kept him, but noting Spock's surprisingly obvious discomfort with being the center of everyone's attention, he decided to let it go for now.

He knew that Spock wouldn't be late if it were avoidable and had a feeling that Spock would never forgive him if he forced him to fess up about his un-Vulcan behavior in front of the rest of the bridge.

Jim suddenly clapped Spock on the shoulder and smirked, saying, "But since it's you, I think I'm gonna let it go because honestly, I didn't think you had it in you to be a rebel." He let go of Spock's shoulder and unceremoniously plopped himself back into his chair.

Spock let out a nearly imperceptible sigh of relief as he proceeded to relieve the officer seated at his station.


End file.
